


not quite a cure

by julie_slamdrews



Category: The Worst Witch (TV 2017), The Worst Witch - All Media Types
Genre: Episode Tag, F/F, Post S2E2: The Friendship Trap, Sickfic, or really mid-episode because I destroyed the timeline
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-18
Updated: 2018-01-18
Packaged: 2019-03-06 07:17:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13406199
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/julie_slamdrews/pseuds/julie_slamdrews
Summary: “T…L…C,” Hecate repeated icily, and Pippa gave a small huff of annoyance.“Honestly Hiccup, don’t you ever let anyone look after you?”





	not quite a cure

**Author's Note:**

> This was entirely inspired by the notes from ddagent's gorgeous tumblr photoset from S2E2. Obviously it destroys the rest of the timeline for that episode somewhat, but I was prepared to suspend disbelief for the sake of hicsqueak fluff, so hopefully you can too?

It was something of an oversight that in centuries of magical study no witch had ever thought to develop a cure for the common cold. Here it seemed that they were just as hopeless as their non-magical counterparts.

Not that Hecate was suffering from anything as banal as a cold. She had been soaked for less than a minute before applying the drying spell, and besides it just wasn’t possible to catch a cold from being cold. It was illogical.

If she hadn’t quite managed to warm up since that morning it was simply that the castle was draughty at this time of year. The slight tickle in her throat was the result of yet another disastrous second year potions class. And her head had started aching approximately six seconds after the beginning of term so who was she to say if it had intensified today?

Even when she had to cut her final class of the day short to avoid a rather embarrassing fit of sneezes in front of the third years she refused to admit defeat. It was probably just those vile body sprays that the girls insisted on wearing. All the same, it might be best if she skipped dinner.

She sat by the fire in her office, trying and failing to rid herself of the chill that seemed to have seeped into her very bones and attempting to concentrate through her increasingly fuzzy head on a book about the development of magical cures. (Even if she didn’t have a cold it still seemed ridiculous that there was no quick solution for those who did.)

She must have fallen asleep like that, because the next thing she knew she was startling awake to the touch of a cool hand on her forehead.

“Hello sleepyhead,” a familiar voice teased, as Hecate blinked groggily. Her head felt clogged, and it took an unreasonable amount of time for her to regain her bearings.

“Pippa?” She barely hid a wince at the raw pain in the back of her throat. “Well met. I…didn’t miss an engagement, did I?”

It had been mere weeks since everything had finally come to a head between them, since she had confessed the feelings she had kept buried for decades, had realised that they were reciprocated. Since then life had been better than she had ever dared to hope for, but she was still worried that a single misstep would bring it all crashing down.

This didn’t appear to be that moment though. Pippa was smiling, albeit in a concerned way.

“No no,” she said, waving a hand airily. “I just happened to be in the area, scouting locations for this year’s broomstick orienteering workshop, and I thought I’d drop in. And not a moment too soon it seems. You look in desperate need of some TLC.”

“T…L…C,” Hecate repeated icily, and Pippa gave a small huff of annoyance.

“Honestly Hiccup, don’t you ever let anyone look after you?”

“I do not need looking after,” Hecate snapped. “I am perfectly fine.” Unfortunately, her voice chose that moment to betray her and her last words were more croaked than spoken.

“Oh yes, you sound it,” Pippa agreed brightly, in the same humouring tone she had used when Hecate had suggested all-night study sessions during their school days. “I am parched after all that flying though, shall we have some tea?”

Without waiting for a response, she waved a hand, conjuring a steaming pot of tea and two cups.

“This doesn’t mean anything,” Hecate grumbled as she took the proffered cup, although the hot liquid felt like heaven on her throat.

“Of course not,” Pippa pulled up an armchair to face Hecate’s, took a sip from her own cup, and began regaling her with tales from the first week of term at Pentangle’s. It sounded significantly more fun and less stressful than the week that Hecate had just endured and, had she not been so devoted to Cackle’s, she would have been sorely tempted to ask if Pippa had a vacancy for a deputy.

They had just poured their second cup of tea when Hecate felt the prickle in her nose return with a vengeance. She had just enough time to set down her cup and fumble for a handkerchief before she pitched forward with a series of violent sneezes. When she straightened again, she noticed with displeasure that the concerned look had returned to Pippa’s face.

“I’m fine,” she said quickly.

“You’re ridiculous,” Pippa replied. She snapped her fingers and they transferred, chairs and all, to Hecate’s bedroom. Hecate looked around her in horror.

“It isn’t even eight yet,” she spluttered in disbelief. “The girls won’t be in bed for over an hour, and then there are rounds to attend to, and I have marking to finish, and lesson plans to go over and…”

“Enough!” Pippa cut her off, her tone unexpectedly exasperated. “Ada will take care of your rounds and the rest can wait, it can all wait. All you need to do is get into bed and sleep off that awful cold you insist on denying you have.”

Hecate opened her mouth to argue, then closed it again. The stern look Pippa had fixed her with brooked no argument, and she wasn’t convinced she had the energy or the voice left to plead the case for her health.

“You’ll stay?” She asked instead, the self-loathing that sprung up at the raw vulnerability she heard in her own voice lessened by the warmth of Pippa’s sudden smile.

“Of course I’ll stay,” she said. “How else am I going to stop you getting up again in an hour to mark your third year assignments?”

“Third year don’t have assignments,” Hecate said, halting the search for her nightclothes. “But there are some fourth year…”

“Get into bed, Hecate,” Pippa sighed. She had already changed into her own nightclothes with a snap of her fingers and was lying under the covers, one arm extended to indicate exactly where she wanted Hecate to lie. Hecate complied, let her head drop to Pippa’s shoulder as the full weight of her exhaustion crept over her. Pippa tightened an arm around her waist.

“Now I can tell if you try to escape in the night,” she teased.

“I might not sleep well,” Hecate warned, suddenly anxious. “I never do when…when I go to bed without finishing my work.”

“It’s fine,” Pippa assured her, fingers tracing soothing patterns on Hecate’s ribcage. “I have a feeling neither of us will be working tomorrow.”

“You don’t need to stay for me,” Hecate protested, but it was half-hearted.

“My deputy keeps saying she wants more responsibility,” Pippa said. “Let’s see how she handles it.”

Hecate chuckled sleepily, her eyes sliding closed as Pippa’s warmth finally banished the chill she had been fighting all day. If she did have a cold (and it was still very much only an ‘if’), this wasn’t a half bad cure.

 


End file.
